Senior Research Manager

Now is an exciting time to join us, we’re embracing innovative ways of working and piloting progressive schemes to support our team and ensure they have a work life balance that really works for them.

About the opportunity

This is an exciting opportunity for a Senior Research Manager with excellent quantitative skills to join our Education team.
The Education sector accounts for over a third of project work at IFF and delivers research and evaluation to inform policy and practice across the UK. We work with government bodies, notably the Department for Education, sector organisations and employers to provide evidence-based insights through large-scale surveys, qualitative studies, and complex evaluations. Our projects span early years, schools, apprenticeships, further and higher education, as well as a wide range of work on managed and irregular migration for the Home Office. By exploring these issues, we help stakeholders make informed decisions that improve outcomes for learners, educators, and society.

As a Senior Research Manager (SRM) you’ll take the lead role on a number of high-profile studies, working on large scale surveys for government clients. You’ll work with and learn from our Associate Directors on other complex projects and you’ll be managing a team of Research Executives and Senior Research Executives, overseeing timescales and budgets, as well as leading on research outputs and client liaison, offering valuable advice to clients at various stages of the project.

Working alongside our Directors you’ll attend new business pitches and work with the senior team to develop and build on success within your sectors as well as developing your career and expertise.

As an SRM at IFF part of your role will be to collaborate with our L&D Director and other members of the research team to help design and eventually deliver training to the wider research team.

Responsibilities

• Design complex questionnaires & topic guides.

• Overall responsibility for signing off specifications & data outputs.

• Analyse quantitative & qualitative data to produce insightful, in-depth & publishable reports.

• Produce thoughtful, creative & impactful presentations to deliver to clients.

• Lead efficient running of multiple projects through planning prioritisation & communication.

• Oversee projects with large-scale CATI fieldwork, ensuring quality & timely delivery.

• Apply advanced data manipulation techniques, including weighting & complex sampling.

• Supervise & delegate to project teams confidently, clearly & effectively.

• Review SRE & RE outputs to ensure accuracy & to feedback improvements.

• Be first point of contact for the client.

• Work positively & flexibly within project teams, to get the best out of everyone.

• Identify skill gaps & coordinate required training for team members.

About you

This is a role for someone who enjoys the pace of agency research and is keen to apply their skills and develop their knowledge on a range of projects with a variety of colleagues and clients. You'll be able to quickly take ownership of complex projects, deliver high-quality outputs and manage multiple priorities confidently.

We're looking for candidates who have significant experience working in research in the education sector in the UK.

The role will suit someone with more of a quantitative focus and strong technical skills in statistical software (SPSS, R, or similar), with some qualitative exposure. You may have some evaluation experience, certainly a solid foundation and a desire to develop that understanding. It will be helpful if you have experience of working on projects delivering Official Statistics, data quality assurance and advanced skills in data handling—e.g., weighting, complex sampling, statistical analysis. Experience of managing research projects with large scale CATI fieldwork would be good too.

You’ll have experience delivering large-scale or high-profile UK surveys for government clients and can demonstrate either operating at a similar level or managing a demanding workload that shows you’re ready for the next step in your career.

You should be someone with integrity, who communicates well and has a calm and constructive approach. You’ll understand commercial implications, have some experience of managing others and be able to manage several projects concurrently, work under pressure and reacting positively as requirements change.

We value fresh ideas on how to continue delivering to the highest quality. This is an opportunity to join a business that values input from all its staff and as a SRM you’ll apply your skills and build on the success of IFF.

Why join us?

• A friendly and supportive work environment, true to our value of “being human first”

• Genuine flexibility, with hybrid working and the ability to flex when you work around our core hours of 11-3

• Learning culture, with ongoing investment in your personal development

• Competitive remuneration, including 5% pension contributions

• 28 days’ annual leave (+ bank holidays), increasing by one day at 3 and 5 years’ service

• PLUS a range of nice perks designed to bring the team together such as all team events and team lunches